Taipei City plans to expand library service on buses

By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter

Fri, Jan 11, 2013 - Page 3

The Taipei City Government plans to expand its “movable library” program which it launched a month ago to encourage reading and it intends to place more bookshelves on public buses to allow more passengers to borrow books.

The program provides books on 62 city buses on routes 1, 32 and 205, and allows passengers to borrow books for free, without the need to apply for a library card. People can return the books on the bus or at any of the city’s public library branches.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said books have been borrowed 10,712 times since the program was launched, adding that the city government would expand the program and place bookshelves on more buses.

“Taipei leads other cities in book borrowing rates, and we hope the innovative measure will further encourage people’s interest in reading and make reading part of Taipei’s culture,” he said.

The city government also plans to place public bookshelves in MRT stations, on MRT trains or at venues around public transportation sites, and to allow passengers to borrow books at various locations besides the traditional libraries, he said.

Taipei City Library division chief Liu Hui-ling (劉惠玲) said the books can be borrowed for one month, and passengers who borrow books on the buses could return them to the bookshelves on the buses or to any of the city library branches.

She attributed the success of the service to the people who donated books and said the city’s libraries welcome the donation of more books as they seek to expand the collection in movable libraries on the buses.

To donate books, the Taipei Public Library can be called at 02-2755-2823 during office hours.